Remember THIS POST, where I noted that my novel was fully edited and I was just going to take a short break before proofing it? Well that break came and went, I started to proofread, and I decided the entire thing needed another full edit.

And that's where I've been for the past month...Cutting, Culling, Pasting, Proofing, Rearranging, Researching, Fiddling, Fixing...and I'm happy to announce that a year and a half after starting my novel, it's finally DONE.

At least, I think it is. I'm about to start proofing it...and us writer's are never satisfied with our work.

In other writing news, I recently found out that a short story that I entered in last year's AKC Fiction Contest won first place, and will be appearing in their next edition of Family Dog Magazine! I was so excited to get the news, because this is great timing for me - it will be another thing to add to the writing resume when I query agents about my novel.

I've also signed up for a pitch session this summer....it's like speed dating with agents. You get three minutes to pitch your novel to as many agents as you can visit with in 2 hours. It is a very exciting opportunity for me, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will drum up some interest...

In other news, Leah and Meadow are still getting along awesome, and Leah has also mellowed with our cats. She hasn't snapped at anyone since the day we got back from Florida. (I do still lock 'em up for safety though, since you just never know.) It's a bitter sweet victory however, because Leah seems to be slowing down all around and I know she's reached her twilight years.

Toby's till Toby. Despite my recent loose leash victories, I took him to a Mother's Day Match to walk around and he got overwhelmed or overexcited or whatever goes on in his doggie brain. We stayed far from the action like at the agility trial, but he was unresponsive and still pulled like a truck...so much so that I had to put him back on his head collar. As the saying goes, one step forward, two steps back. I think Toby will always be my work in progress, and I sometimes think he's a little "special," if you know what I mean. (Nick calls him "Rain Dog," amongst other, less flattering names.)

But no matter the reason that he always seems to backslide, I love him all the same, and I love the challenge of trying to figure out what makes him tick.

As for "the Noise," Leah is still making it several times a week. Under my vets direction, we tried a two week trial of Clariton in case it was allergies (didn't work), and now we are in midst of another trial of Pepcid given to her right before bed...which doesn't appear to be working either. Several people have remarked that maybe she is just clearing her throat, which is something senior dogs (and people) do as they get on in years. Whatever the cause, it's been going on for months now, and since its not affecting Leah's health otherwise our vet does not recommend putting her through any invasive tests.

The only bad part is, although its not affecting Leah adversely, Toby is still terrified when she makes the noise. Our latest tactic has been to ignore him completely, and it seems to be helping. He will start to circle and whine, but after a few minutes, he pauses to see if we are watching him, and when he sees he's getting no response, he leaves and goes to the bedroom to lay down. I feel bad that he is so afraid that he doesn't want to be in the same room with her, but at least he is no longer circling to the point that he is trembling and his heart is racing.

Meadow is loving her newfound freedom, and is having a blast racing and zooming around the yard without the long line. There was one day that I thought she was considering trying to go over the fence - in fact, all three dogs were VERY interested in something on the other side...but I just put her back on leash and that was that. Her recall with Nick is just amazing to see...with me, it's still a work in progress. Admittedly, I haven't been working with her, (or any of them for that matter), as much as I should. I spend time with them daily, but not like I used to, because I've been in front of my computer trying to get that book done before we got busy at work. Now that I'm nearly through, I'll have no more excuses not to get back on track...

In fact, next month, Toby and I are returning to Nose Work classes, and this time, Nick and Meadow are going to join us. I'm really looking forward to seeing Meadow work. She has an amazing nose. I've witnessed her walking along and just suddenly stop short, dig in the dirt, and uncover a grub to eat. I'm guessing it was one of her sources of food when she was out on the run.

Finally, Leah is officially retired from all classes. We've also stopped asking her to "Sit", as she has a hard time getting into position and pops right back up again as if she's uncomfortable. Like I said, she is really starting to show her age and I know sad times are ahead. But, in the meantime, we're enjoying the time we have left together. Now that she isn't so obsessed with the cats, she has been enjoying catch and fetch a lot more - she used to get the ball once or twice and then run off to patrol the yard. I've also been teaching her to spin alongside Meadow - I call it the "Double Dog Spin," and as soon as it is perfected, I'll have Nick tape it to share...along with a new trick I've been working on with Toby.

So stay tuned, there's lots of fun stuff yet to come...

"Maybe if I don't move, she won't see me?"

Last weekend my mom and I took the boys to a local agility trial to work with them in the parking lot on their "other dog issues."

Luke was frightened by the neighbor's dogs - and later attacked by another dog - during his puppy hood (he's just two now) and now he is in fight mode the moment he sees other dogs...lunging, barking, and all around flipping out. He's also very standoffish around my two girls, and wouldn't even come in the same room with them when we visited my parents in Florida. My mom has worked really hard to try to get Luke past his reactivity, but it seems every time she gets close, something goes wrong to set her back (like a strange dog running up to him on the street).

Yet she keeps trying, and that's all that matters.

And you all know Toby's story - he's been bitten many times and is just an all around dog target, like he has a "Bite Me" sign on his back, and when he is around unfamiliar dogs he pulls on lead, sniffs the ground, wrinkles his head worriedly, and sometimes runs towards the other dogs, which for the life of me I can't figure out...

But luckily, Luke doesn't pick on Toby - and Toby doesn't scare Luke - so they are a good pair to work with together. So off to the agility trial we went, and we just walked around in the parking lot, treating them when they looked at other dogs and remained calm, (in Luke's case), or didn't pull, (in Toby's case). We gradually got closer, but only close enough that they could see the strange dogs going in and out of the entrance to the show - and not close enough to interact with any.

We stayed about an hour, they did well - and we quit while we were ahead. All and all it was a good day. And, if you notice something...Toby's not wearing his head collar. Once he started walking really well on it, I started weaning him off, and I am now working him with a martingale. Leah's martingale, to be exact. Toby even had a successful vet visit while wearing the martingale the other day (for what turned out to be benign lump number 12), and it was a real accomplishment for him to remain calm in the waiting room and not try to drag me over to any other dogs or jump up to greet the vet tech. I'm quite proud of my yellow boy, and how far he has come!

Here is a photo of the boys after their successful parking lot visit, right before we loaded them up to go home.

The only sad part is that I can see the gray in Toby's face quite clearly in this photo. I know Labs only get better with age, but I don't want him to get old, you know?

It was an ALL DAY affair...and then some.

The poor fence guys were here from 8:00 AM straight through until almost 9:00 PM, and then had to come back again the next morning for a couple of hours - and - the poor dogs lost an entire day of play. I gave them each a lengthy leash walk, but that's not enough for my pack, and by the end of ordeal they were ready to knock me over, shove me out of the way, and check out the new yard on their own.

Unfortunately, they had to wait. Just as the fence crew finished up, my parents stopped by to check out the new corral - and since their dogs were with them - Luke and Kayla got the honor of running the yard first!

...but you should have seen my three run when it was their turn!

Well, actually, you can...at least Meadow. Here are a few shots I caught of her butt-tucking around her new enclosure...

Notice something missing? Yup...no more long line!

In all honesty, Nick and I have been testing her without it over the past few weeks before the new fence, (I know, I know...tsk. tsk.), but it wasn't without caution - or worry. Even though Meadow's recall is now awesome, there's always that fear that something will spook her. And while she now bolts for the house where she feels safe...the back fence stood in her way because our rear exit is on the side of our house. 

Although Meadow has never tried to hop the rear fence, we were afraid because the potential was there...and who knows what she might have done if she got to the door before us and no one was there to let her inside? Luckily, our front is also fenced with four foot chain-link, but still, it was a concern....

But now that the fence line has been moved to the other side of the door, we can breathe easier and let her run free without any worry of her taking off (except during the weeks leading up to the Fourth of July, which we'll quite literally have to play by ear).

An added bonus to having our long-put-off fence erected is that Leah can no longer see the feral cats that reside next door - which I'm hoping will help tone down her recent cat intolerance that has somehow grown to include our own cats.

This is our neighbor's woods on the other side of that brand new six foot stockade - and if you remember my yard from my post about the old fence, this used to ALL be chain-link...which gave Leah a clear view of the four legged perps.

Unfortunately, the only bad part about blocking her view is that she appears bummed that she can no longer partake in her self-appointed job of keeping our yard free of wild felines.

"No cats over there."

"No cats over here."

"None in this direction either."

"Nothing there but some boring dog toys and that stupid fence."

"Sigh...this used to be much more fun."

"Guess I'll just go to sleep."

Poor Leah, she finally stood up and shot me this reproachful look....

"This is all YOUR fault."

And then she went and lay down on the patio...doing her best to look very hard done to.

"My life no longer has purpose."

I do feel bad for her, but I'm sure in time she'll come around...

And what about Toby...?

I don't think he even noticed that the fence was gone. After stretching his legs, he went right to his regular dug-out, had a good roll, and then got comfortable.

Soon, Meadow came over to join him....

"What's with the hole dude?"

"Hmmm....looks kind of boring."

"I don't get it, but I guess I'll just hang here with my friend."

And speaking of friendships, now that Leah and Meadow have mended theirs, we've been allowing all three dogs in the yard together during play time again without issue...which is a real relief. It was hard leaving one inside, and listening to that one whine while the others played. And of course there was all that dog shuffling back and forth.

But now that we no longer have to hurry back inside to tend to whichever dog was left behind, and now that our hands are unencumbered by leashes and latches thanks to the new fence - we can carry our drinks outside with us on the first trip and just sit on the patio together and enjoy our yard with ALL of our four legged friends.

Bet you never thought something as simple as a fence could do all that?

…I watched a dog and handler working together at a Rally match and thought, “That looks like a fun thing for me and Toby to do together.”

I tried a class. And another, and another. And soon, I was hooked.

To validate spending so much time and money at classes and shows, I told myself I had a purpose.

I wanted to help other dogs by proving that they could be trained with positive reinforcement only. To do so, I planned to teach Toby to succeed in the Rally ring by using only such methods. I grew consumed with my goal, and made it my priority to go to as many dog shows, matches, and classes as I could handle. And like everyone who competes, we had a few NQ’s along the way, but mostly, Toby excelled – earning placement ribbons and titles right up until the day I decided to retire him because he had developed a cyst above his wrist joint that tended to swell whenever he jumped.

A cyst that my vet feels would be unwise to remove if it can be managed through lifestyle changes instead.

So, we stopped with the jumps and I put his “career” on hold, but I continued taking Toby to classes because I still had big plans for my lovely Lab. I knew if I worked hard with him, I could take him even further – train him to excel in K9 Nose Work, compete in the Senior Division of APDT Rally, and maybe even train him to obtain his CD (Companion Dog) title with the AKC – none of which required jumping.

Soon I was taking Leah to school, teaching her Nose Work and Rally in hopes of one day competing with my sweet senior at my side. And Nick started bringing Meadow to Rally classes, and we discussed enrolling her in K9 Nose Work classes too…

But at the end of last year, life intervened. All three of my dogs developed health issues that required a battery of tests and one major surgery, and our “dog” money was quickly depleted. To build our emergency funds back up, we halted all of the dog’s classes completely, and I promised myself that I’d get back to work in the spring.

With more time on my hands, I spent lots of “one on one” time with each of my dogs – playing with them and walking them and teaching them a few tricks – and I started to appreciate each of their good qualities rather than focusing on their faults.

With more money in my pocket, I was able to take two of our dogs with us on vacation, and had such a great time taking them everywhere with us that I plan to take more dog-friendly trips in the future.

With more time on my hands, I quelled my desire to help other dogs by volunteering to walk them at the shelter.

And now that spring has arrived and I’m preparing to return to class, I’ve realized that even though I miss training my dogs and catching up with my dog loving friends - I don’t miss the competition part all that much. I don’t miss spending most of my spare time and hard earned money on going to classes several times a week so that our skills are sharp enough for the show. I don’t miss paying out entry fees and getting up before dawn to pack up my car with supplies and head to a trial. I don't miss sometimes seeing others treat their dogs in ways that make me cringe, but not having the gall to open my mouth. I don't miss knowing that no matter how much I had hoped I could lead by example, people are never going to trade in their methods for mine as long as they are winning ribbons.

So I took another look at the reasons I got involved in dog sports in the first place.

1. Do something fun with my dog(s).
2. Help other dogs.

Hmmm....isn’t that what I did all winter?

I wanted to share with all of you how well Leah and Meadow did together on their trip. We only had one "incident" between them, if you could even call it that. On the first night of our trip we stopped in a hotel in South Carolina on the way down to Florida, and when it came time to sleep, Meadow was pacing, not quite able to settle. Soon, Leah got a look on her face that said, "If you don't stop pacing - right now - I'm going to bite you."

But I hopped out of bed and escorted Meadow to her blanket, several times, moving it closer and closer to my side of the bed until she felt secure. In the end, it was actually positioned nearer to Leah than I was comfortable with, and I didn't sleep well that night. But the girls did - sleeping side by side as if they never had an issue between them. This was good, because at my Mom's, they also slept on dog beds on the floor beside one another.

For the first few nights, Meadow stole Leah's bed, (it was larger than her own and a little closer to me, which is where Leah prefers to be), but I corrected her each time, escorting her back to her own bed, and it wasn't long before they knew their spots and were comfortable with the arrangements - and each other.

Soon they were even hanging out with one another when it wasn't bed time.

My parents showed us around dog friendly Palm Coast and the surrounding communities during our stay, and we took Leah and Meadow on many of our excursions, along with my parents' German shepherds, Luke and Kayla. One of our stops was to explore one of the city's numerous walking trails, but honestly, I can't remember which one - there were so many parks to choose from!

We also walked around their neighborhood, which was a nice change from home - all of the fences stopped in the back yards, so there were no dogs lunging and barking at us in front yards. Even better - there were no loose dogs running around, everyone picked up after their dogs, everyone we saw walking actually smiled and waved, and there was no litter - not even a cigarette butt! (Most likely due to the area's high wild-fire risk).

My parents also took us on a day trip to the Princess Place Preserve, one of the oldest buildings in Palm Coast, which was actually owned by a princess - and here are Nick and the girls enjoying the view from the deck at the Princess Place.

My mom is camera shy and asked not to have her face "put up on the internet" but here are her babies also relaxing at the preserve - Kayla is on the left and Luke is on the right.

On another outing, we took the dogs to Flagler Beach. The battery on my camera was dying, but I managed to get a few shots in before it did.

Another of our walks was along a wooded path that ran along the Intracoastal Waterway, nearby some gorgeous condos called Canopy Walk.

"Um guys, can you take the photo already before an alligator pops out of those palm fronds behind me and eats me?"

We did have to be careful during our walks. Here on Long Island there is really nothing that can hurt my dogs - besides cars and other loose dogs. In Florida, Nick and I needed to be aware of the possibility of coming across several types of rattle snakes, along with alligators, coral snakes, water moccasins, and fire ants - the latter being the more likely to encounter - but no less unpleasant. At the beach we needed to be alert for Man o' War jelly fish and sharks. Florida is also home to wild pigs, panthers, and black bears - but aside from the Princess Place Preserve, we didn't really visit anywhere that we might encounter those animals - and most of them are quite shy around humans anyway.

And of course, we spent some time hanging on the patio and enjoying drinks in the nice warm winter air. The weather was unseasonably warm during our stay, and we enjoyed temps between 80 and 85 degrees for our entire vacation.

I tried to get a photo of all of the dogs looking at me, but Meadow was obsessed with her "Lambie," a stuffed toy she adopted from Luke and Kayla's toy box as soon as she "moved in."

She also enjoyed playing with Luke and Kayla's other toys, and this is a shot of her playing tug with Nick.

We had to keep a close eye on Meadow to make sure she didn't steal any toys directly from Luke or Kayla, who wouldn't appreciate it. While they all behaved, their relationship wasn't great. Meadow snarked at Kayla when she got too close to her on the first day there, and from then on the two girls kept their distance from one another, occasionally shooting each other stiff looks that we needed to interrupt. And Little Luke was afraid of both of my dogs, since the poor guy has had bad run ins with dogs in the past and has fear issues. (We call him "Little" Luke because he's the baby of the family.) That's why he's sitting outside of the porch, rather than hanging out in the same room as the rest of the dogs.

I finally did get them to all look at me at once, although Meadow seemed obviously annoyed to have to look away from her Lambie upon request. "I'm busy you know!"

Playing outside in the yard wasn't much of an option for my dogs. My parents have really nice landscaping, and we didn't think Meadow's long line would be all that plant friendly, so she only got to go out on a six foot leash. And Miss "Fun Police" Leah often needed to stay inside when Luke and Kayla were playing, because she would chase them down while barking to interrupt their fun. She wasn't really nasty about it, but she was scaring Little Luke.

"Hey, where'd that mean dog go?"

"I've been banished to the porch because no one can have fun in my presence."

We also did some fun things without the dogs, (I know - how inconsiderate of us), including going to the Flagler Pier, the Blue Spring State Park on the St. John's River, the Wings Over Flagler Airshow, and making several visits to the nearby city of St. Augustine, (which I LOVED), where we visited Fort Matanzas National Monument and the San Sebastian Winery. During our day trips, we crated the dogs side by side in our room and they did very well with the arrangements. Luckily, there was only one thunderstorm during our entire stay, (unusual for Florida), and we made it back to the house in time to get them outside and give them some melatonin and put on their D.A.P. covered bandanas before it began.

By the end of the trip, the girls were like world class travelers. We stayed in Fredericksburg, Virginia on the way home. We didn't have reservations and found the first hotel we tried was full. Next stop, the Country Inn & Suites, where we got the last room - an actual suite! We don't normally stay in suites but it was late, Nick had already drove for 11 hours, and it was only 104.00 bucks + 10.00 for the dogs with our AAA discount. The room was tremendous,  (It appeared bigger than our 650 sq ft house), with two rooms and a kitchenette.

Despite her size, Leah looks a little lost in the big suite. "Wow - is this our new home?"

But even though the girls did well together, girls will be girls and sometimes they are snotty to one another.

This is Leah's horrified expression...

See those worried eyes?

What could be troubling her?

Leah was horrified because Meadow was up on the bed! We don't allow dogs on beds at home, but we bent the rules at both hotels. Yet Leah refused to take part in such naughtiness. Meadow, however, hopped right up and made herself at home.

Meadow's true personality shown through, however, when I caught this next shot. And yes, she is looking right at Leah, and no, she was not stressed. I have no explanation for what she did, other than she is a little brat!

"Yup, that's me. A brat - but a cute one at that!"

The girls did settle in really nicely though, despite Meadow's mischief, and they had fun playing around in their own private suite before we headed home the next morning.

About the only thing the girls didn't like about their trip was the elevator at the hotel, but after going up and down a few times to go outside, they got used to that too. And now that they are back home, they are getting along awesome - we have even taken down the x-pen!

Unfortunately, it may go back up soon though, but not because of trouble between Meadow and Leah. It seems that Leah is done with our cats - she snapped at one of them within hours of coming home. I verbally reprimanded her, and she seems to be "tolerating" them now - but if needed, back in the x-pen she'll go. (And we are still locking them up for safety when no one is home to supervise.)

So all in all, I think this trip did the girls a world of good. I guess a little adventure is a great bonding experience for anyone! But it's nice to be back home, and have Toby back where he belongs. He had a great time at the sitter I am told, hanging around with two Goldens that DON'T pick on him - but I missed him. Two weeks is a very long time to leave one of your dogs, and I was so glad when I got to see his happy yellow face at the end of our two day journey home.

I think he was happy to be back...

Near the middle of February, Toby had several (two??) episodes where he was circling in the house and whining - but each time I brought him out to the yard, he didn't want to go. He just wanted to lay out there and not come back in the house. Similar to the weird panic thing he had last June, which our vet never found an answer for, so I chalked it off to Toby just being Toby. Until near the end of the month, when he had a severe episode.

Not only was he circling and whining, he was trembling and his heart was racing. It took me several minutes of holding him in place before he finally stopped.

I called the vet and got an appointment within the hour. Nick came home from his class just as I was leaving for the vet, so he came along with me. As we drove, I lamented about how I thought Toby had just had a seizure and that while he was doing it I heard Leah making "the noise" again, and it seemed all our dogs kept having issues...

The vet examined Toby thoroughly and said it sounded neurological. He asked us to try to get it on video and to see if he always circled in the same direction.

For the next two weeks I kept the camera on hand, but Toby only had two minor circling episodes, nothing like the one that had prompted the vet visit, and I wasn't even sure it was the same behavior. But I did notice during both of them that he always circled to the right - and I also noticed that Leah had made the noise immediately before he started. It was strange, but each time, I was able to stop him fairly easily and then he was fine, so I wasn't able to catch it on tape.

I called our vet and gave him an update, and then we went away. As you know Toby stayed with a friend - who reported he didn't have an episode the entire time he was there.

But just last night, only two days after returning home, he had another one. And guess what prompted it?

You got it - Leah made "the noise."

She was lying off to his right, chewing on a bone, and made a noise like she was trying to clear her throat. Toby started circling right away and Nick had his cell phone handy and got the whole thing on tape. It still wasn't as severe of an episode as the one where I brought him to the vet - he wasn't trembling and his heart wasn't racing - but if you watch it, you will see how unresponsive he is to Nick speaking to him. He looks terrified, and he keeps glancing in Leah's direction. You'll also hear her making the noise several times during the following video:

If you can't view the video above, you can view it HERE.

Anyone ever see anything like this? Some kind of weird circling episode prompted by a simple noise? We sent the video off to our vet and we're waiting for his response, but I can't make heads or tails of it. It's obviously behavioral, but it sure isn't normal. I'm now wondering if we'll end up with two dogs on Prozac?

4/3/12 - UPDATE - I spoke with our vet, and he too feels it's behavioral, but not enough to warrant medication at this point. He wants us to just watch and see if the problem worsens, and keep him informed.

Most of you didn't know it, but Nick and I were in Florida for the past two weeks visiting my parents. As three dogs would be too difficult to travel with, we left Toby with a good friend and brought Leah and Meadow along on our adventure.

I didn't tell any of you about the trip beforehand, because I really didn't want anyone knowing our house was empty. Not that we have much to take...but I worry about someone breaking in, leaving the windows wide, and my cats getting out. Since they are indoor only now, (one was originally a stray and the other was feral), I'd probably never find them again.

...is when your leash is so loose you need to glance down to make sure your dog is still attached to it. Finally, after seven years of trying more training tools and methods than you can imagine, Toby is walking on a loose leash for the majority of our walks around the neighborhood.

He's still a work in progress mind you, because he still has a tendency to try to pull in three distinct situations.

(1) If a dog is running the fence and barking at him - Toby has been bitten several times by dogs now, no major incidents, but enough to make him leery of strange dogs. When we pass an unfriendly dog on our walks, Toby's forehead wrinkles up and he starts sniffing the ground frantically and tends to pull away, trying to get as far from the other dog as possible. This seems to be his default behavior, however, sometimes he tries to rush over and greet barking dogs. I haven't quite figured out why he alternates between the two behaviors, (maybe some dogs sound friendlier to him than others?), but in each instance, it is extremely hard for me to get his attention back on me.

But it used to be impossible - and I'm happy to say, that's no longer the case. Sometimes I do have to gently tap him on the head, "Hey, bud, remember me?" and if he's really intent on sniffing, I'll ask him to sit and "Look" at me before we continue by, which tends to refocus him. I also try to keep a look out during our walks, because if I see the dog before him, often I can get him to trot on by it by using Leslie McDevitt's "Look at that" game, (I use the phrase "Check it out" since Toby already knows "Look").

(2) Another instance where Toby might pull is if he catches a good scent on the side of the road. I try to keep an eye out for any sign that he's about to veer off to start sniffing, (ears pricked forward at something, a fast head turn, etc.,), but I don't always catch it in time. In these instances, I tell him "Leave It" and just keep on walking. Usually he'll give up the scent when the leash goes taught and trot to catch up with me.

Sometimes, however, he'll become a mule and insist on standing in one spot and sniffing, in which case I walk right up his leash until I'm standing near his head and have the leash really short, then I'll turn my body into his, stepping backwards, so the back of my legs are pretty much pushing into his hip, (gently), and I keep walking into him until he turns away from the scent, and then "Voila!" I get his attention back. That was actually another trick I learned from McDevitt's seminar a few years back - she explained that it's a horse handling trick that also works on dogs.

Every once in a while, if Toby is stuck on a scent that he doesn't want to leave, I'll ask him to sit, refocus on me, and then reward him by allowing him to go back to the scent with a "Go Sniff." That way, he still gets to read his Pee-Mail, but has to check in with me first.

(3) The third instance where Toby always pulls is a tricky one, because I'm never 100% sure of the cause. Toby pulls horrendously in new places, especially if there are a lot of strange dogs around. In that situation, I can't always tell if it is excitement to be somewhere new, or anxiousness due to the dogs, but I try not to be too hard on him in case it is stress. It's been suggested that getting him accustomed to more new places will fix this, but I've done that - more times than you can imagine - and it hasn't fixed it in seven years, so I don't think it's ever going to change. Now I manage him with a no pull device - and usually after 10 - 15 minutes at the park, dog show, class, etc - he calms down and is back to his happy, responsive self.

But, the fact that I know of only three situations where Toby will now pull is great, because he used to pull all the time. There was no such thing as a loose leash with Toby, no matter what tool we used.

And believe me, I tried everything:

A Chain Choke: First, let me backtrack to when I adopted Leah. I was completely against collar corrections, thanks to my experience with Harley, but I signed her up for an obedience class to socialize her and was told she had to wear a training collar in class. Being that Leah was noise sensitive, (but not over the top like Meadow), I chose a thick chain choke and used it for a noise correction only. Since Leah wasn't a puller, all I had to do was gently tug on it, it jingled, and she turned and gave me attention. It worked fine for class, and I stopped using the collar once class was through, switching her to a nylon martingale, and eventually just to a plain old flat collar. So when I first adopted Toby, I thought, "Hey, maybe that will work on him too." Well, as it turns out, Toby (like most Labs) could care less about noise, and was such an extreme puller he was throttling himself with the chain choke, so I stopped using it within a week.

A Half Check Collar: When I decided I wanted to try and train Toby to be a therapy dog, I sought out a "positive trainer" for him. Sadly, although she promoted herself as a positive clicker trainer - she wasn't. She spent the entire six week course trying to convince me to use a prong collar on Toby, which at the time, I did not want to use. She insisted that Toby knew his commands and was blowing me off - and the only way to train him was with corrections. I ended up compromising with her, and I chose the Half Check Collar, which is on the idea of a martingale, but it has a length of chain that tightens a bit more than the circumference of the dog's neck. Well, within a few weeks of using the tool, I ended up with a very sick dog. (Have I mentioned that Toby has anxiety issues and was on Clomicalm when we adopted him?)

Toby developed Psychogenic Polydipsia, which is a condition where he drank so much water that it flushed out his kidneys and he had extremely dilute urine and was having accidents while just lying in bed. This required about $1000.00 worth of tests to diagnose, (to rule out other disorders), and Toby could not get his filtration system back under control on his own without intervention - we now have to tell him to stop drinking too much. I credited his condition to the stress from this trainer's methods, which included not only collar corrections, but things like walking into Toby when he jumped up, which resulted in him falling into a bunch of bins at the shop where this "training" took place. Luckily, he did not get hurt, but when I apologized to him for walking into him, the trainer reprimanded me and said that was what she wanted to happen.

Wonder why I did not go back for her advanced lessons?

Easy Walk Harness: While this is a great tool for a lot of other dogs, I just never got it to fit Toby correctly. It would sit so low on his chest that if he lunged forward, his front feet actually came out from under him and he landed face first on the floor - hard. Not good.

Gentle Leader Headcollar: I saw the most success with that tool and used it for a very long time. But while it helped to control him, it never seemed to train him, because each time I tried to transition him back to the flat collar after months of using the headcollar, it was like I never worked with him a day in his life - yet he would walk on a loose leash with the collar on. Additionally, although he trotted along happily while wearing it, he sometimes tried to rub it off when we stopped walking, and I think this was in part due to the fit. You see, the nose-loop on the Gentle Leader is supposed to sit rather loosely, so that it tightens only when the dog pulls. But Toby has a short muzzle, and you also need to keep the nose-loop tight enough that it doesn't slip off. For me to do that, the loop never sat as loose as it would on a dog like Leah, who has a long, narrow muzzle.

Flat Collar: Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! I don't even think Toby even feels a flat collar on his neck, even while he's coughing and gagging himself. I could stand there until the next presidential election, waiting for him to stop pulling and give me some eye contact, and Toby would just keep on choking himself...

Prong Collar: Later on down the road, me, the person who tries to be so "positive" with my training, broke down and tried this tool on Toby. I had tried just about everything else, researched it well, and knew that a lot of Labrador owners had good success with it, since these guys are so insensitive around their necks. I was gentle with it, fitted it correctly, got him used to it in low distraction settings, etc., etc., and while Toby didn't get sick like he had with the martingale, (I think because I was so much more thoughtful by this point about how and when I used a correction), the dog who used to be unafraid of things, started becoming jumpy on walks, spinning around and looking behind him at every sound. And, even more horrifying, the dog who used to try and climb up on my lap while at dog shows would instead sit at the end of his leash with his back to me - ignoring me. I am convinced I had broken his trust by using this tool. I had been using it for about three weeks, when I had a nightmare that I needed to tether him to a pole during an emergency, and when I returned for him, he had punctured his neck severely while trying to get away. Not that I'd ever do that, but I decided my conscious was trying to tell me something, so I tossed the wretched thing in the trash and have not used any type of negative training methods on Toby since.

Walk Your Dog With Love Harness: Another front clip harness that did not fit Toby quite right. It kept shifting to the side, and the leash ring dangled down and hit him in the legs. I'm not sure if this is because he is a Lab, but it didn't work well on him, and I sent it back within a week. (Do other Lab owners have so much trouble getting tools to fit their dogs correctly, or is Toby just built weird?)

Freedom Harness: This front clip harness fits him much better than the others, and I still use it in certain situations today. But although it does stop him from pulling, there's a lot of disconnection when he's wearing it. He pulls, I redirect him back to me, we walk along for a while, then he pulls again. Although I can control him, he doesn't seem to be learning anything with it on. And in close quarters, like at our Nose Works training classes, I can't control his head, and he will stick his face in every person's lap or every dog's face that we pass when we walk through the crating / viewing area. However, I like this tool if I just want to take him on a hike and want to let him explore without worrying that he'll take me for a drag. I also used it when I brought him to Chili's to try and convince people to go Kent Animal Shelter's Give Back Night. I didn't want to use his head collar for that, because people often mistake it as a muzzle, and I wanted people to approach us - not shy away.

You're probably thinking - But I thought you said you stopped using the headcollar?

While I did stop using the Gentle Leader, I had seen the most success using a headcollar, and I wanted to see if another style worked better with Toby. I was going to try the Halti Headcollar next, but before I bought one, I stumbled upon the Comfort Trainer Head Collar online and I decided to give it a try instead. I liked that it came with a beige nose-loop (since the black looks more like a muzzle), and that the manufacturer claimed the material was softer and fit more comfortably than similar products on the market.

Some of you might have noticed Toby wearing it when I posted my Wash and Wear post, but if you didn't, here's a close-up of it.

And let me tell you, I'm so glad I bought it.

Not only am I able to walk Toby easily, like with the Gentle Leader, but he seems to be pulling less and less, even around other dogs, or if we turn down roads that we normally don't walk on.

The difference? Communication.

Since this tool finally fits Toby correctly - it only tightens when he pulls. And when he pulls, I've been holding my ground, waiting for him to turn his head back to me, and the moment he does, the collar loosens on its own and I praise and/or reward him. It has an immediate cause and effect - Toby stops pulling and the head collar goes slack.

He's making the good things happen - not just me.

Plus, the material is much softer and lighter than the Gentle Leader, so it doesn't leave deep indents on the top of his muzzle when he wears it - just a very slight line in the fur where it sits. He also doesn't fuss with it nearly as much as he did with the Gentle Leader.

I can't wait to see how well it works when I return to training classes this spring. (We took a break to catch up on our emergency funds thanks to all the vet bills at the end of last year, but don't worry, the dogs still get trained, walked, and played with, just not in a classroom setting.)

I've only found two negatives with this product.

First, there is no safety link to attach it to the flat collar like the Halti has, in case the tool should slip off. And although the product claims it won't slip off, and honestly, it has never threatened to slip off, I'm pretty paranoid - so I rigged one myself with a small dog's slip collar. It's not the greatest photo, (Toby kept moving his head), but what I did was slip the smaller collar through the leash ring on his flat collar, and then attached his leash to both rings on the slip collar, that way, even if the head collar should slip off, he's still attached to his flat collar.

The other negative I've found is that there are a lot of loose threads on the harness. So many, in fact, that I returned the first one because I thought it was shoddily constructed. But the next one came with just as many loose threads, along with a note from the company telling me there was nothing wrong with it, and that if I didn't like it I should just return it. And I almost did return it on principle - because I was put off by what I felt was a flip attitude in terms of customer service, but Nick convinced me to give it a try, and he even snipped off all of the loose threads for me and melted them with a lighter.

I'm thrilled he talked me into it because of the success I'm seeing with it, but I should admit, there are more threads coming loose that Nick is going to need to fix again. I've had Toby's Gentle Leader for at least four years now and have never had one single stitch come loose or start to fray...

So, basically, if the company would add a safety strap to attach to the dog's flat collar, and finish their thread work a little better - I would give this tool a five star rating. For now, I'd say it's a four, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a tool that works for management and communication for their dog.